Much Ado About Nothing

noun

1. a comedy (1598?) by Shakespeare.

Idioms and Phrases

A big fuss over a trifle, as in Jerry had everyone running around looking for his gloves—much ado about nothing. Although this expression is best remembered as the title of Shakespeare's comedy, the phrase much ado was already being used for a big commotion or trouble in the early 1500s.

Example Sentences

“I believe those are all the announcements I have, so let us get on with this glorious day. Oh! There is one more thing: All that business about wolves at Swanburne turned out to be a false alarm. In other words, much ado about nothing.”

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For U.S. shoppers hoping for relief, however, it’s looking like much ado about nothing.

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An example of a Washington much ado about nothing: The delayed seating of Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election on Sept. 23 to finish the term of her father, Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, who died in March.

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His next project was Much Ado About Nothing, a masterpiece, set in an Italian villa with his then partner Emma Thomson playing Beatrice joyfully to his Benedick.

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Cumberbatch says he really wants to do a play like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf or Much Ado About Nothing, but Colman is quick to shut it down saying: "I really can't hold a whole play in my head any more."

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